Comment Re:Ingenious plan... (Score 1) 81
I'd never thought about it that way. I thought it was all about the tech community giving a little fiber to those that give us fibre.
Comment Tin foil hat (Score 4, Funny) 140
This is the reason I never leave home without a balloon attached to my tin foil hat.
Comment UTC times (Score 2) 124
The page http://www.arissat1.org/v3/ includes the transmission time in UTC and information on some of the other telemtry channels. They begin Monday 11 April 2011 at 14:30 UTC and continue until 10:30 UTC on 13 April 2011. I just tried the 145.950 MHz FM downlink as it passed over Australia without luck, but was using a fairly crappy wideband scanner antenna indoors. I might give it a try tomorrow with a 150MHz antenna which is closest narrowband antenna I've got.
Comment Re:Yes but did it run Linux? (Score 1) 153
Wait a minute when was Linux written? Never mind.
Linux kernel 0.01 was released September 1991.
Submission + - 85% Of Women Are Annoyed By Their Facebook Friends (zdnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: 85 percent of women say they have been annoyed by their friends on Facebook. A new survey conducted by Eversave, a company that offers daily deals it calls Saves, asked 400 women about their habits on the social network.
Submission + - What you need to know about the iPhone 5 -- really
oxide7 writes: Theories abound as to what Apple is packing into its next generation smartphone and more importantly, when will it come out. Some of these theories make sense, but some are completely off the wall.
Submission + - Paul Allen: Yeah, Gates and Ballmer Were A-Holes
theodp writes: Ever wonder if those rumors of a cancer-stricken Paul Allen overhearing Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer conspiring to take advantage of him financially could possibly be true? Well, wonder no more. Here are the heartwarming details, according to Microsoft's Odd Couple, an excerpt drawn from Paul Allen's forthcoming memoir, Idea Man: 'One evening in late December 1982, I heard Bill and Steve speaking heatedly in Bill's office and paused outside to listen in. It was easy to get the gist of the conversation. They were bemoaning my recent lack of production and discussing how they might dilute my Microsoft equity by issuing options to themselves and other shareholders. It was clear that they'd been thinking about this for some time. Unable to stand it any longer, I burst in on them and shouted, 'This is unbelievable! It shows your true character, once and for all.' I was speaking to both of them, but staring straight at Bill. Caught red-handed, they were struck dumb.' There's some speculation that Allen penned the book to set the record straight about his role in creating Microsoft and his place in tech history. Welcome to the Gary Kildall Club, Paul!
Submission + - FSF suggests that Google Frees Gmail Javascript (fsf.org) 1
Phoe6 writes: "Apparently, FSF is calling it a "JavaScript Trap" and wants 'useful websites' such as Gmail and others such as twitter, facebook to release their Javascript code under Free Software License so that users can trust their service."
Submission + - Paul Allen Accuses Bill Gates of Scheming
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The LA Times reports that Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen writes in his new memoir that Bill Gates, his onetime business partner, was a "mercenary" opportunist who schemed to lessen Allen's stake in the software company. Allen says in his book "Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-Founder of Microsoft" that he learned of the plot while listening in on a conversation between Gates and Steve Ballmer in 1982, after Allen had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Allen said it was clear Gates and Ballmer had been weighing the issue for a long time. "Unable to stand it any longer, I burst in on them and shouted, 'This is unbelievable! It shows your true character, once and for all,' " writes Allen. Days later Gates gave Allen a six-page, handwritten letter of apology. Gates later made an offer to buy Allen's stake in Microsoft at $5 a share, but Allen refused to sell. "As it turned out, Bill's conservatism worked to my advantage. If he'd been willing to offer something close to my asking price, I would have sold way too soon.""
Submission + - Ex-Commissioner calls for privacy restructure (itnews.com.au)
schliz writes: An overreliance on online identification and "digital gods" could be creating a criminal market for identity theft, Australia's former Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton suggests. Crompton has called for an identity management overhaul, noting that identity is not really the issue, but rather "the way we solve a deeper problem – to ascertain reliability, trustworthiness". He recommended organisations take a more proactive, user-centric approach to privacy, as per Canadian Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian's principles of Privacy by Design.
Submission + - Quadrocopter Ball Juggling (robots.net)
boer lee writes: "[...] amazing video showing two quadcopters juggling a small ball"
Submission + - 1,000,000 handsets sold every month in Australia (freeaccess.com.au) 1
destinyland writes: A new study finds that 12.74 million mobile handsets were sold in Australia during 2010. And 57% of those handsets were smartphones, a huge jump over their 2009 share of just 36.4%. (Or as this Australian technology site noted, "43 percent of people are persevering with the old-school mobile phone.") Last year saw an average of more than 1 million handsets sold every month, or 34,000 handsets every day. But of course, "In reality most were probably sold in the run up to Christmas and in the weeks following the release of the biggest new models."
Submission + - BC Says Using WiFi Is A Sign Of Infringement (techdirt.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Boston College has a funny idea of what constitutes copyright infringement. It has a list of what might be called "you might be a copyright infringer if..." with the sort of things you might expect, such as using file sharing programs or sending mp3s to friends. But some have noticed something odd. Included on the list is using a wireless router in your dorm. Yes, just using a wireless router. Not using it for anything. But just using such a router is considered a sign of infringement. Nice to see our top colleges and universities teaching students completely made up things.
Comment Re:Anonymous Coward to FTC: (Score 1) 76
Just the one collective, resistance is futile!
Comment Maybe they told bullshit? (Score 1) 190
Maybe the travel writer and real-estate CEO actors just told bullshit during the interview? Once during the GFC I was running a bit low on cash and told someone I really enjoyed
